fear, that, while they are shutting up their bowels of compassion from the proper objects of compassion, God will either take away the property which he has given them, or turn it into a curse both to themselves and their posterity.

5. If it be more blessed to give than to receive, then those who are able to give, should esteem it a favor when Providence presents them with opportunities of giving. Our Lord told his disciples, "Ye have the poor always with you." God has wisely ordained, that there should always be objects of charity in this world, and fair opportunities of trying the hearts of the selfish, and of gratifying the hearts of the pious and beneficent. This is the reason God gave to his own peculiar people, why there should be always some poor and needy ones among them, and why they should cheerfully contribute to their comfort and relief. "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought, and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in the land." The rich and the affluent have always had opportunities of giving, but they were never more highly favored with such opportunities, than at the present day. The great and interesting revolutions among both Christian and heathen nations, have opened a wide door for the ample display of general benevolence and private charity. There never have been in any age of Christianity, perhaps, so many benevolent designs formed, to diffuse temporal and spiritual blessings among mankind, as at the present time. The Missionary Societies, the Tract Societies, the Bible Societies, the Theological Societies, and the various species of humane Societies, have greatly multiplied within these very few years. All these societies not only present opportunities of doing good, but loudly call upon all classes of men to contribute, in some mode or other, to the temporal and spiritual benefit of those who are suffering by a famine of bread, or a famine of knowledge, or a famine of hear

ing the word of the Lord. Let the rich, and all who enjoy a competency of the good things of life, improve these precious opportunities of giving from the purest motives and for the noblest ends. Let them every where contribute according to their abilities, for the comfort and relief of the poor, for the private and public instruction of youth, for the maintenance of ministers at home, for the support of missionaries abroad, and for the propagation of the gospel to the ends of the earth."

Let them cheerfully and unanimously enter into the wide. field of benevolence and charity, which is now open before them. Let them not think nor say, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest; but lift up their eyes and look on the fields, which are white already to harvest. The time is come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. The time is come when christians of all denominations are praying for the prosperity of Zion, and expending their property for the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom. If you either refuse or neglect to open your hearts and your hands in aid to this most benevolent design of saving precious and immortal souls from endless misery, you will incur the highest displeasure of your final Judge. "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" We do, therefore, agreeably to the apostle's directions, "charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." A mere pang of compassion, or a solitary act of beneficence, will not fulfil your Christian obligations, nor establish your Christian characters, nor afford you the blessedness of the bountiful giver. You must devise and pursue liberal things, and keep your hearts and hands continually open to deeds of charity. You must, in a word, live up to the spirit of our Saviour's command to all his followers: "Sell that ye have, and give alms: provide for yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not."

SERMON XXXIV.

THE EXHIBITION OF CHRIST TRIES THE HUMAN

HEART.

AND Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. - LUKE, ii. 34, 35.

THOUGH Christ was born in a low and obscure condition, yet never, perhaps, did two parents in Israel perform the rite of dedication with such emotions of heart, as Joseph and Mary felt, when they appeared in the temple, and publicly consecrated to God their child, their Saviour, and their Sovereign. At the same time, good old Simeon came in, and raised the tide of their affections. After praising God for the long expected Messiah, and for the opportunity of seeing the young Redeemer, he addressed the mother of our Lord in the words I have read. "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against; that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." It appears from this declaration, which was made under a divine impulse, that it was the design of God, in exhibiting the Son of his love before his people Israel, to try their hearts and fix their final state. And we must suppose that he means to answer the same important purpose, from age to age, by exhibiting the character and conduct of the blessed Saviour before the minds of men, through the medium of the gospel. This, therefore, is the truth to be illustrated in the present discourse :

That God exhibits Christ before the minds of men, in order to try their hearts and fix their future state.

This subject naturally divides itself into two branches, which require a distinct consideration.

I. Let us consider, that God exhibits Christ before the minds of men, in order to try their hearts.

1. The truth of this observation appears from what the prophets foretold concerning the feelings and conduct of men towards the Messiah, when he should make his appearance in the flesh, and perform his mediatorial work among them. David predicted that he would alarm the fears, and awaken the enmity and opposition of the world against him. "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' After this, he foretold the language and feelings of Christ under the cruel hands of his implacable enemies. In the name of the suffering Saviour, he said, "Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels." "The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet." "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." This was a plain prediction of the feelings and conduct of the crucifiers of Christ, who were highly incensed against him, on account of the doctrines which he taught, and the claims which he made to equality with the Father. Isaiah also foretold the contempt and cruelty with which Christ would be treated, in the days of his humanity. "He shall grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." The prophets were inspired to foretell these effects of Christ's appearance in the flesh, because God intended, by bringing him into the world, to try the hearts of men, and draw forth those feelings which they really possessed, but were unwilling to acknowledge.

2. It appears from the history of Christ, that he fulfilled the predictions which went before concerning him, and tried the hearts of all, who either heard him preach, or saw his miracles,

or were any way acquainted with him. He was a sign universally spoken against. Herod and all Jerusalem were alarmed at the news of his birth, and began to speak and act against. him, even before they saw him. When he appeared as a preacher, he tried the hearts of all who attended his public or private discourses. Some said, he spake as never man spake; but others said he deceived the people. Some heard him gladly; but others heard him with disgust and indignation. Some admired his miracles; but others despised and blasphemed them. Some said God was with him; but others said he was assisted by Satan. He tried multitudes by his crucifixion, as well as by his miracles and preaching. Then, like a sword, he pierced the heart of his mother, and of his peculiar friends and followers. Then he tried the hearts of the two malefactors, who suffered and died by his side. Then he tried the hearts of his murderers, and made it appear that they were more cruel than the savage beasts of prey. Then he tried the hearts of all the spectators of that solemn scene, who were very differently affected by the awful spectacle of his death. He constrained them all to express their real feelings, on that extraordinary occasion. While some railed and some mocked, the centurion glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things that were done, smote their breasts, and returned. Christ was like a fuller's soap, and a refiner's fire. He tried the hearts of thousands, both while he lived and when he died. He was always saying, or doing something, which had a direct tendency to try the hearts of all his friends and foes.

3. The exhibition of Christ after his death, through the medium of the gospel, tried the hearts of the whole Jewish nation. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, and the apostles were properly prepared to exhibit a crucified Saviour, his character impressed the minds and tried the hearts of all who heard them preach. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were universally affected. While thousands believed and rejoiced, fear came upon every soul who despised and rejected the offers of mercy in the name of Christ. While some rose and some fell, while some were enlightened and some blinded, while some praised and some blasphemed the divine Redeemer, every heart in Jerusalem was tried. After this, the gospel was carried to Samaria, and to all parts of Judea, where it produced the same different effects which it had produced in Jerusalem. It tried the hearts of believers and unbelievers, and completely prepared the nation in general to be cut off and dispersed through the world. The exhibition of Christ, by the gospel, disclosed the secrets of their hearts, demonstrated their blindness, stupidity,